Michigan’s winters are notoriously cold. When you live in a climate with a harsh winter, you need your home’s heating system to be able to work at its highest efficiency. Old houses, in particular, can be incredibly drafty when cold weather strikes, costing you a fortune on your monthly energy bill.
Unfortunately, bulky sweaters and hot cocoa won’t save you from the misery of poor insulation. At J&J Roofing, our residential roofing contractors understand the important role your home’s insulation plays in keeping your family warm through the winter.
Consult this handy guide to help you decide if it’s time to insulate your attic!
Consider Your Home’s Previous Winter Performance
The first thing you need to do to determine if your attic needs insulation is to assess your home. Before you do anything else, consider your heating bill from last winter. Did it exceed your expectations?
If it did, you already know it’s time to update your attic’s insulation. If your roof collected ice dams, this is also a sign that your attic could use some insulation updating.
Walk Through Your Home to Feel for Drafts
Take a walk through your home. Do you feel any drafts? This may indicate a problem with your insulation.
Are there any hot or cold spots within your living spaces? Uneven temperatures between rooms are a sure sign of insulation concerns.
Make a list of drafty spaces to discuss with our insulation experts. If areas other than your attic need insulation, we can help with that as well.
Look for Icicles On the Roof During Winter
Although Icicles shine brilliance during the winter, it could indicate that your attic insulation is worn out. A poorly insulated attic lets the heat out of the attic during winter, melting the ice on the roof.
When the water that flows from the melted ice gets to the gutters, it freezes into blocks of ice again and hangs on the roof’s edge and on the gutters. This situation can overload your roof and result in roof damage. So, when you see icicles, it’s time to have your attic properly insulated.
Watch for Moisture or Mold Problems
Another sign that indicates it’s time to insulate your attic is moisture or mold. When your attic insulation is poor, it results in air leaks, thereby giving room for moisture accumulation.
When you witness a heavy sign of moisture or mold in your home, you should invite an insulation expert to assess your attic.
Our team can insulate any of these areas:
- Basements and attics
- Ceilings and walls
- Crawl spaces, floors, and ducts
- Garages
Choose Your Insulation
You may be surprised at the wide range of insulation available. Cellulose insulation, made from old newspapers, is the oldest form of insulation. Man-made fiberglass, a synthetic material manufactured using recycled glass fibers, offers a tried and true solution that remains cost-effective today.
Open cell and closed cell polyurethane spray foams work well for spaces that are otherwise hard to reach. Our team can work with you to determine which options will work best for your home.
Other forms of insulation to choose from include foam board insulation, commonly known as insulating boards. This type of insulation is made of firm structures and is most suitable for reducing the amount of heat that flows through wall studs, wood and roof. You can also use this type of insulation for exterior and interior insulation.
There is also Radiant Barrier Insulation, also known as reflective barrier insulation. This type of insulation functions as a reflective barrier to heat. Instead of reducing the heat flow in your home, this type of insulation reflects the heat away from your home. Radiant barrier insulation is mostly made from kraft paper materials, polyethylene and aluminum foil.
Another insulation to consider is vapor barrier insulation. When it’s cold outside, vapor barriers stop water vapor from entering your home’s walls and ceiling. Even if your home has an insulation system, moisture can still accumulate around it on the interior and outside, lowering the R-value of the insulation. But with this type of insulation, your home is protected from accumulating much water vapor.
Insulation and Residential Roofing Services
Now is the perfect time to get your insulation into shape for the coming cold season. With updated insulation, you can stock up on electric blankets and footed pajamas all you want, but not because you have to.
Our expert insulation professionals can help you assess your home’s insulation needs and get your home into shape before the mercury bottoms out. Give us a call at 586-445-6455 or contact us to schedule your insulation update.